4am and questioning life, as per usual

I hate nights like this, it's late, you're tired, you have to get up early for whatever reason and in a perfect world you would just drift off into that deep sleep you solely need and desire. BUT then there's that flooding thought that asks you what are you doing with your life?
What would you do if you die ?
What would your loved ones do?
What happens when you die?

I don't think too deeply on it normally, but I think I have a good deal of faith/religion, ignorance/bliss and down right not knowing so not caring to not be afraid.
Just because I'm not afraid doesn't mean I don't think, plan or wonder.

I'm not exactly asking the meaning to life. Just my own
Why am I here, what I should do, do I do the things I think, say or plan to do ?
Can I fix it, if I can't or don't it's a waste, then that's the sad and depressing part. But I try to avoid it. But my mind won't let me, so it continues thinking about the after life, like is there one ? Or is it nothingness ? I'm not afraid of nothingness but it seems quite boring if that's the case.

When I think after life I wonder if its like slipping into another life, a different land or world, would I remember me? My current life and loved ones? Probably not. Which makes me wonder if this is the next life. What if what I know as life is the after life, the next place?
Which brings me to the before life thought. Where was I before I was here ?
Did I exist ?
Will I exist after?

When I was about 14 my religion teacher told us a theory that I don't think anyone was actually listening too, in fact I don't think he was even listening to himself, but it stuck with me.
Cos let's face it, sometimes things just stick with you, and a lot of te time it's useless, itrelevent things nobody else remembers or even cares about at the time.
Anyways, his theory was supposed to frighten us and provoke thoughts, but to be honest I found it quiet comforting.
Wasn't exactly a damn you to hell theory.

To put it simply ....
Death is kinda like birth. like a baby, we live our lives in a bubble (whether we want to or not) we are afraid of the unknown and we don't know or think what could be next, we don't know when our times up, maybe someone else does, maybe someone else is waiting on is, but right now, in our bubble, we don't know or care.
Imagine telling an unborn baby about the world and life, imagine the disbelief and confusion....
That's basically what death is or could be.
Maybe there's someone waiting, maybe they know when it'll happen, maybe it's a world like this, one we can't fathom just yet.
Maybe that bright light everyone's on about is the next world we get born into.

Now I'm not saying I believe in reincarnation, or heaven made from clouds, there's a million things I don't believe but also, I don't disbelieve.
I'm just saying, I don't think this is the beginning or the end, my mind can't understand it right now, but I don't think I'm meant to either.

Many of you might find that confusing or even insulting due to your own beliefs, but each to their own. I won't be forcing myself to believe in down thing just because I've been told to, I will however listen, and make up my own mind.
Religions are all too similar to be coincidental, so there's plenty I believe religion wise (if anything, religion tends to be a good moral compass for me, be a good person etc)

Either way, I hate when I want to sleep and my mind thinks it's a good time to start thinking about the bigger picture.
To be honest, life, the before and the after isn't half as frightening as the during.
Realising how behind I am, or what could and couldn't happen, or what's ahead, it's all a bit too overwhelming and sometimes scary or depressing.

It can't just be me who has these stupid inner questions and theory's.
I'm not exactly an inquisitive person, I'm not looking to know all the answers, but human nature makes me think about them anyway.... At really annoying times when I should be sleeping!

So let me know what your theory's are, or if you've heard or like the theory my religion teacher told me many maaaaany years ago.
Do you agree?
Disagree?
Find it new and interesting?

These long nights full of overwhelming thoughts normally end in me thinking of all the things I regret or appreciate. Hopefully it'll be me appreciating my life and everything in it and quickly fall into a nightmare-less sleep, ready to greet the bright shiny and busy day with my sleep deprived mind. Anyways, that's my thoughts on the whole death thing.

Keep in mind it's just another journey, nobody gets out alive so there's no point in worrying.
Simply appreciate what you have and Goodnight! x

Fruits Basket - My proudest possesion

I was asked a very strange question the other day (when people drink, and stupid conversations come up, this is the head wrecking stuff that starts to get asked) 'dude whats your most prized possession' i of course said i didnt have one, because i love too much stuff, and wouldnt pick one of the other, and i think its a very commercial thing to have a prized possession, for starters my prized and beloved things cant technically be considered possessions, ye know, like family, pets, friends, all those none possessions. honestly (i sound like suh a hippy) i dont put too much weight on what i own, maybe its because i havent really got stuff i couldnt live without.
Dont get me wrong,  ive loads of stuff plenty of people would love and consider them prized possessions,i just dont.

However, if we had to start choosing, after alot of thought, and a coincidental clear out of my brothers room, where i found bags of my old stuff, including books, games, clothes and dun da da duuuuuun My fruits basket collection.

Now i have plenty of books and games series, complete series'
i have collections of brands, dresses, merchandise, but nothing was so hard to come by as the above photo.
i kid you not, this is the manga that started it all for me.

i was about fifteen and not studying for my GCSE exams as usual (for those of you who dont live in the UK, GCSE exams are our end of high school exams, as important as your SATs and given to us at an age where we just dont care.
So whilst i wasnt studying, i was roaming the internet, and i cant remember how, i think it was during my not so legal downloading of sailor moon episodes, i got recommended results of anime, and i wasnt overly into anime at the time. so far id watched a total of maybe four animes at that time, all during study leave mind you.
So i watched the first four episodes of fruits basket, and that was it, there was no more.
researched it, found out there was a manga, so i gave it a try.....i think i read it on ONEMANGA (omg the nostalgia) back when they used to host manga....now i think theyre just links (omg for about two years,i basically lived on that sit.....kinda like how i live on mangafox now)
So thats where it all began......we can safely all blame fruits basket for my obsession in manga.

i loved it. soooo much.
i loved it to the extent i finished the manga and decided i needed it. like in my hand, to hold.
even if ive read a book, if i loved it, or it meant something to me, i want to have it, ye know, memories n all that.
so that summer after exams i was at Qcon (northern irish comic book/gaming festival) and in the manga section which i never bothered with at any other conventions. and i found the fruts baskets..... this would be a very boring easily got collection if id just lifted them all then. NO people! i was only 16 at this point, how on earth would i afford over twenty mangas at 7.99 each.
i got three of them. and thats when it all began. i got 4-6 around September, i mustve plagued forbidden planet to order the rest in (belfast based comic book and all things dorky store) every trip to belfast i had to get to forbidden planet, just to see what new ones they had. of course my mummy couldnt understand why i couldnt just read them online like the others.....gawd mammy, i had, but this was my thing, i needed the collection. i stalked ebay for silly parents selling their childrens manga collections, but again, i was a low income teenager who valued her sweets, so no chance did i have a random 200 quid lying around. i did however find the fruits basket DVD collection on one of these ebay hunts.... thus the DVD above.
it was the first of many many many things i bought online. it was my favourite thing for so long (well that and the chobits dvd that i got at the same time-which a friend 'borrowed' and never returned) anyways, between christmas' and stalking forbidden planet and alot of ordering them in, i some how got the whole collection (prob wouldve been easier to order online, but i never seemed to have the money at the time)

well one off the whole collection....its missing volume 23.
ye know what, thatll be what i buy the next pay check (if i remember) the final fruits basket manga(think the dead mother is on the cover)
dont get me wrong, if i didnt read them online, they wouldve been bought alot quicker, but this is just a collection, not my need to read or desire to find out the ending.

So thats the boring long story of how i stumbled upon fruits basket, watched and read it, and collected all of it.
ive read and watched alot of anime and manga. and i mean an obscene amount. and out of all of them...fruits basket was always my favourite.

i highly recommend it. especially if its your first.
its a perfect first read/watch.

fyi the dvd follows the first dozen (i think) manga volumes.
to find out what the whole thing is about.....google it ya weirdos.
but to save yous a bit of time, ive put in a wee link below, so you get the gist of the story...but i recommend you just read the manga incase the awesome plot twists get spoiled, after all its technically an old series (timeless but still old, so beyond the reach of the spoiler alert)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruits_Basket

its funny but really sad sometimes.....but dont worry, happy ending all around. promise.

Heist Society - review

yeah im honestly not one for reviews (so this is done terribly) but since it seems to be what im asked to do most by my small wee (loved) following, i shall be giving the people what they want.

i cant really do another once upon a time review, since the next season isnt out until September, and my mums in hospital and i have alot of uni work to catch up on before august, so i havent really had the time to hunt down and watch a new tv show (plus i cant find any i want)

I have however been reading two books i found in an old bag of my stuff when i was clearing out my little brothers room. no idea why i had a ton of my stuff under his bed, but im happy i got two unknwon books out of it.
they were amoung my first year stuff from university, so i assume they got taken home for summer, put into storage and never made there way back out.

So the books were so surprisingly good! i mean fast paced thrilling books arent really my cup of tea. id watch more action movies than girly movies, but im afraid its the opposite when it comes to my reading habits.
i was actually told by a boyfriend years ago, the only girly thing about me was the books i read.... apparently it was meant as a compliment.....apparently.

So if you dont know the books are about a teenage girl named kat (which i try forget now im an old foggy of 23.... in my defense i probably bought the book at 20) the book took me a bit to get into, but since i had no other form of entertainment, i stuck at it past the first couple of chapters where she was at boarding school and trying to live a normal life mmmmhmmmm nobody want to read about you n your strive for a normal life, shut up and get to the hot guys and funny friends. which it did, and when it did WOO loved it.
i know, im very fickle when it comes to books, theres some things in life ill put up with, a couple of boring scenes in a tv show ill ignore or fast forward through, but a couple of boring chapters would probably make me put down the book and move on to another (and it mightve been my mood and lack of youth talking there, but i thought the first couple of chapters were annoying. sorry)
after that however i completely enjoyed it. theres loads of books that have reviews on them from other authors or writers and they label them page turners. but its rare youll actually get a page turner. this is a fast paced book that alot of the time you race to read the rest and near rip the page out (now when they say page turner, they should make a whole new level for, page ripper)
it has plenty of humor, not ha ha that was a joke, but it was a very visual comedic book that really puts you in the scene. in my opinion very few books/authors can do that.

i rarely recommend a book because lets face it, alot of people recommend enough books, why should i, especially since i wouldnt have confidence in what i like would be what anyone else likes. but i can assure you, theres a fantastic chance you like this book.

it has the teen girl moments  (rarely) it has the hot guy (or  two, or ten) the girl doesnt pine after someone like a puppy, occasionally her love interest takes it up a level, but its not the fifty shades of grey style that alot of teen books could be accused off (ive read them too though, just saying, this isnt one of them)
the whole thing is like oceans eleven with teenagers. its a massive heist, dire stakes, very few friends and very few you can trust in a secret world of high class thieves.... and in the end the massive complicated hiest is over turn last minute when you think all is lost, she flips the simple backup plan with and boom, bad guy defeated.
i dont want to spoil it. just go read it. its awesome.

fun fact....i didnt know this was by the same author (ally carter) as the gallagher girls. thats a book series i vaguely remember reading YEARS ago. but i had pretty much the whole collection at the time, so it had to be interesting. (i dont buy more than the first book or two if im not interested)

The only down side i can say about this book, is the author leaves you holding your breath until the last page, and once its over you want more. so now im away to cry at the fact theres a third book due to popular demand, and i havent the time to buy or read it in the next few weeks.

All in all an awesome page turner, go read it.
ps. Gallagher girls was also a bit of a must read. it had the usual themes, bad ass girls, hot guys, spy boardng school.....go forth and read!

common convention baggy

So for those of you that have never been or are just about to attend your first convention, be that because of work, a hobby, or something else. This is what kind of stuff you should expect to see in your baggy.

I have been to gaming conventions since i was quiet young (13 ish) normally in those bags (normally a cotton bag for life with an awesome design) you get your usual itinerary, useless drink/lunch/shop promos and couppons from local establishments a chewy bar (sweets/candy) and maybe a demo game or dvd or anime.

training days ive only been to a handful. those bags you dont normally look at until your on the ride home and want to know what else theyve included other than that ever occurring can of boost and rice crispie bar.
youre normally met with disappointment when you realise its normally ALOT of the same ol promos and volunteer litrature. and of course if its done through students union you will maybe get the odd rape whistle or high-vis vest/armband but without a doubt youll get that condom. after all thats all students need apparently, boost to keep them awake, condoms, because thats all they do when theyre awake and of course alot of wasteful paper, telling you how you can be more involved, in the same stuff your already involved in.
seriously, how does anyone that gets these bags not question the amount of wasted paper? i mean, ive had at least five of these baggys and i get he exact same thing every time, only the promos differ for the place.
such a waste of paper. but thats okay students union, as long as we get the boost and condoms, who needs any actually useful information.

conventions for hobbys and work tend to differ, but they all usually have the same three things, itinerary, alot of leaflets of related yet useless information and if youre lucky a decent freebie. below is a decent example.

i was throwing stuff out and came across one of the many bags that i got through attending a convention. this one was last minute and my brothers lecturer was speaking and i thought the whole thing sounded interesting (plus it was free and i got a free lift there, so it all worked out in my favour) granted i didnt expect it to be a get together of all the old animators turned university lecturers, five of my brothers and two of my own.
Youll notice after a few of these conventions, they are a great place to find out nw technologies or get a sneak peek at a new movie or something and meet decent contacts (especially if youre a soon to be out of work recent graduate) BUT you will also notice after a certain point, alot of it has the same familiar faces. the same convention goers, the same groups. after a while they all seem to know each other.
this is down to both networking and well, the industry isnt THAT massive like. obviously if its graphics/illustration/animation not everyone ill be ito it, and the same people who are into it will go to the same conventions, or be the same keynote speakers.
my point is, dont expect to never see them again, the world isnt as big as you think, and everyone eventually knows everyone one way or another.
SO LETS GET A LOOK IN THAT BAG.

as you can see its the standard convention bag (useful to shove your lunch and extra coke in on the day of the convention, forget about for half a year, then maybe keep it to store socks or something in later (theres many uses for these no longer needed bags, you will find these out soon enough)

inside there was a cute lil pocket which i didnt realise until the way home, was a perfect size for the speakers/events booklet. actually really handy.

a wee glimpse of the keynote speakers booklet. you dont want too big a book, otherwise its super obvious you dont know where or who youre going to next, and that creates not just unwanted stares from other convention goers but also unwanted attention from staff that basically see SUCKER written on your head, and decide you should not just waste five minutes talking to them but also go to whatever unpopular speaker they work for. 

i once went to a convention where the three days worth of itnary was all on one big a2 page, back and front, folded up to a nice booklet size, cute for the bag, but god help you if you wanted to actually know what was on next or who was talking where, this unhelpful size of layout eventually gets you both dragged to talks and event you dont want to go to and youll definitely miss the ones you came to see.

i was at a music festival and the best itinerary booklet i ever got was actually four(one for each stage) of those elaminated tags, coloured coded. 

it was light, it was able to be on your person at all times with no effort and of course being a festival it was festival proof thanks to it being laminated (pretty sure that was the glasgowbury festival)

This particular convention was very small, but had ALOT of talented speakers, and i was extremely annoyed to miss the only two animators i wanted to hear, due to it being a wee bit of schedule, and me arriving two hours late and signing up to the wrong event (wasnt actually told you could only choose one event. take note newbies! always be sure youre going to the right place)

You will more than likely peek in the bag initially but never actually bother to look throuh everything, because when you first arrive WHOCARES, youre already here, thats the important thing. 

Soooo amoung the useless promos etc you will also probably get, a poster for or relevant to the event, the one in the above photo is destroyed thanks to being crushed in a drawer for 6 months, but still you get the point. i actually love the gaming convention posters, maybe even some of the flyers, theyre decent enough to hang on the wall or hold onto....art conventions, not so much, or training conventions, theyre normally reminding you to do more work, in a very boring graphic design way. boring!

moving on. when you look in the bag at the end of the weekend, youll likely find sweet wrappers and reciepts from your many snacks and lunches (conventions can make a gal hungry) you will get a tag 90 percent of the time, which i love. feel so important when i dander about the town with it on. 

it basically has your name, sometimes your info, and nomally alot of promo info on the event or the event managing companies. either way the tag is always my favourite part of a convention without a doubt. 

youre at a well paid convention when you get a notebook or notepad and even a pen (with the obligatory branding on it of course. cant not promote yourself on EVERYTHING) 

itinerary which weve kinda discussed (and im too tired to REALLY explain it) and your goodies! 

depending on your convention this will obviously vary, but next to the tag and itinerary, its the most important item. 

so we gathered students union gives energy drinks and condoms, gaming conventions tend to give a piece of chocolate or something and a demo game/dvd/anime, which you love at the time but realise its an episode 15-18 dvd....so either get confused, throw it away, or go buy episode 1-15, those are your choices. 

Ive had many different goodies, mainly pens and if its really really fancy a USB. 

who doesnt love free USBs i dont care how little space they have. granted the above took it to a whole new level of little disk space. i think it holds maybe 100 photos, or two videos idk. 

thanks to conventions and open days and the like, ive never actually had to buy a USB pen, which is amazing since all my classes require e to hand my work in on a usb pen and i have approx 6 classes at any given time. soooo thats 6 usb pens i should have. well i do hope my lecturers enjoy pudsey the bear(childrens hosipital), or community careworkers (theres a lil old cartoon couple on it), or my favourite discover northern ireland (silver, swihes round and has wee shamrocks on it) USB pens. none of the lecturers have commented on it yet, but any time theyre handing back my work, ive noticed none of them say the usual 'now wheres yours, or which ones yours' i think we all know the wierdest on in that box is likely mine. 

In this case i got retractable earphones, WOOHOO.... granted they snap back too fast and hurt me, and the ends are so hard id rather use my gelled pound land earphones, but c'mon, free earphones and USBs whose complaining right.

So thats the very long ramble of what one might expect to find in one of the hundreds of convention bags you will accumulate over your lifetime (slight exaggeration for most) but lets not lie, we all love free stuff, even if its boring old literature at how you could do more or what you could save on the local lunch menu.

free stuff is free stuff :)

A year in tshirts

Its now july and my stuff has finally made its way into my allocated cupboard (if it doesnt fit, its not staying, YOU MAKE IT FIT) Whilst putting all my stuff away ive come aross a few interesting things. One of which is the following.

When you work or volunteer somewhere, alot of the time you are expected to wear a uniform. and if its voluntary chances are, you got to keep that god awful primary coloured tshirt.
The following is some of my last year of tshirts (that didnt get thrown away before i got home)

In order....

this was the xs and it was basically the russian circus tent. 

long story short i worked an information desk at the shopping centre for two days. telling people how its not too late for uni and have the school leavers applied yet. 

considering it was lashing rain that weekend and there was the culture festival on that whole week, nobody wanted to hear about university. i however got paid £8 and hour, so i was happy to sit in the draft.

The only two proper people i got to talk about uni was a batty woman in a fur coat that hasnt seen a hairbrush in two decades, and wanted to study medicine (personally i thought she'd be both a massive liabilty and amazing craic if she were to actually become a nurse) and the other was a woman asking about a newspaper clipping for an unrelated event somewhere in the city, but because i had the universty logo on me, i had to automatically know everything about it, surprisingly it was an event my brother was away to that day so i did actually know about it, but she didnt actually want to go, she wanted me to confirm it was unsuitabe or her preteen who was overly interested in going, even though i said he'd prob fit right in, she wouldnt leave until i confirmed (and lied) that it wasnt suitable for him, thus theyshould just go home, round of applause for mum of the year. i mean it was literally round the corner. 

culture tech (which is now my hair dye tshirt, since i got three tshirts that week) was great fun, but since it collided with a day job and alot o partying due it being freashers week, i was severally lacking in sleep the entire festival. was good craic, it was basically nerds uniting to show the public technology. 

there was loads of events but i was stuck being a runner (any time any photographer needed new batteries etc on any side of the city) and parading children from one console exhibit to another. it was glorified babysitting but it was great getting behind the curtain access to alot of the music and tech events (even though i was too wrecked to actually take advantage of this)

either way this is now my hair dyeing tshirt.

student guide, pretty self explainitory. i ran tour groups every forty minutes from the foyer of the main building (hogwarts building) down to the farthest away building (foyle arts) explained the campus to both parents and prospective students and ran out of breath constantly explaining the many courses, including my own and similar. i turned out to be a pretty good asset to the uni that day since i got asked back many times to do more work/volunteer (free tshirt less events) personally i blame the bright candyfloss pink hair, anytime anyone wanted or needed anything it was a 'talk to the pink one' moment.

apart from being in the promo video for magee campus, the only thing i can remember specifically was the head of the school tussling my pink hair for the newspaper, and a REALLY fit nursing student, who hung out with me the whole day, but i never got his second name, so meh, wasnt meant to be :(

ps. i love how clingy this tshirt looks TALK TO MEEEE (i assume they were aiming for friendly)

This particular one i shouldve goten a few times but because im so niave i just used the same tshirt over different city events. after all it was all the same red shirts. i know theres probably at least ten in many grannies closets by the end of it all, but i only needed one so meh. 

So derry was the city of culture in 2013. They talked about it all through 2012 and it was all yu heard about by the end of 2013, but now its just sort of clinging on hoping it can be city of culture again. tbh i think it did really well as city of culture. i mean thre was something on every week if not every day. was never a dull moment. and for us students tempted y free tea and toast, or free lunch or a free city of culture bright red coat to keep us warm all winter, we signed up and worked the events.

after all why pay to attend something you could be paid for attending.

This unlike the others is home made (identical to five others that my friends wore) it was a campaign tshirt during student elections. i made a pretty good dent in the polls i must say so myself. and i had a blast doing it (granted my studies declined from then onwards due to falling behind, but otherwise good craic) i was aiming for feminine then anarchy but it sort of ended up very umm....claire like. 

with this and my pikatchu hat, i was hard to miss round campus. 

was so pretty, i loved the volunteer tshirts way more than i liked the officer tshirt (which i had to wear) so when all was said done and we were packing up, i asked the head of the student union if i could keep one of the unused green tees, woohoo. 

Porbably the most stressful and ongoing job i had all year, which was finished off by an entire week of events me and the other officers built from scratch.

it was hectic considering most people get the job and training months before the RAG week, but we only got ours a little over a month. so it was all rushed and last minute, and we hadalmost two events a day. 

i was soley in charge of getting and running the volunteers.

but it was all worth it for charity (and my ugly green tshirt apparently)

So believe it or not thats a years worth of tshirts folded above.

well.... its one from a job every other month that i enjoyed. 

kinda love how my year can actually be sumed up into that one bundle. who i was going out with, what i was doing that week, who was visiting, who all i met and a million other things. it was jut an awesome year i think :) kinda cool how that wee bundle of clothes can sum it all up for me. 

Cereal box toys

Dont know about the rest of the world BUT here (namely the UK) we havent had toys in cereal boxes for many man maaaaaany years.
infact the last proper toys i can remember werent even that good, they were jimmy neutron spoons or something. after that they stopped getting toys in cereal boxes. to the enragement of children everywhere (who would grow up and write strongly worded emails and demand to know the reason, dont lie if you didnt do it, at least one or more of your friends claimed to have emailed the kellogs company regarding toys)
We eventually figured it had something to do with nitwits and lawsuits. no shit genius you can choke on those, technically you could choke on the cereal too, are you gonna stop selling it too? either way im pretty sure the fact toys were no longer in cereal was a major factor in me not eating cereal everyday.
I mean come on, you remember being a kid and demanding whatever cereal had the toy, and if you were firs to that new box, you made it your mission to get that toy before your little brothers.

So i can remember the odd toy (two or three) over the course of the last decade or so, and they always got your hopes up that maybe toys were making a come back (i dont care if your 5 or 25, you should be excited that theres an added useless plastic object in your breakfast) Today is one of those hopeful days, i present to you...... THE CEREAL TOY (hackysack....i assume due to the world cup, and it woould take a right moran to choke on it)

Its definitely the simple things in life.

So excited to find one of these bad boys. and im pretty sure were together in saying, bring back the toys..... nobody wants to read the nutrition information while eating. c'mon kellogs get it together lads.

The joys (an odd things) of cleaning and moving out of your student house

So the time has finally come, its been coming a long time considering everyone else really moved home a month or so ago, but yes, its time to pack my stuff up and hand my keys in. Mammys house here i come.
Which im not complaining about, because lets face it, i want to spend as much time as possible with my family before i have to go abroad for placement, ill miss their annoying faces.

Keys are due in tomorrow (i figured i had one more night here, but due to the recent realisation of how much crap i hoard, it may take two car runs to move it all home, so gotta move most of it home tonight and maybe come back for the remainder tomorrow morning before the final inspection)

Last night was my final night living in Derry (for at least a year) which me aoife and her boyfriend joe spent perfectly, being lazy, going to see fireworks which in aoifes head always translates to pub crawl, we eventually got home, only none of us were tired, so it was a massive contrast in music (joes country and aoifes alternative) drinking every drop of remainder alcohol in the house (there was surprisingly alot) and talking complete shite (topics ranged from boob jobs to politics, as they do like) And although me and joe were dying by the end of the whole night, (not wanting to be the first to leave and be THAT person that ended the last night ever in princes st) we finished it the way we started, 5am sitting talking garbage on kitchen chairs in our disgusting back garden.
It was really bittersweet how we finished up our year the way we started (the first night we met we spent the whole night in the garden on the kitchen chairs, talking utter nonsense.)

So im happy how it ended, plus joe lives near me so ill see them over summer, and theres always the festivals me fiona and aoife have planned to go to, so im not upset over not seeing anyone anymore. im just annoyed i wont be living here anymore.
its sad! i mean, out of all my houses and roommates, this house, these roommates were the longest. and most awesome :)

SOOOO now ive done the mandatory blubber fest above, its time i entertain/confuse you all with tales of what all i found when i was packing all my stuff up today.
Moral of the story. im a complete hoarder.

lets start where i did, the drawers that i never used. In my head they were for supplies and souvenirs, ie never really used, therefore the easiest to tidy up.
Apparently supplies meant those rulers and pens still in the wrapper that i got as freebies from the freashers fayre and by souvenirs apparently i meant every piece of paper and flyer i accumulated over the academic year.

apparently way waaaaay back in september i didnt want to wreck anything, so i kept everything, including freebie sweets, amoung them the above o2 jellies.

bet o2 didnt think theyd be feeding the hungry student population all the way into june.

In the drawers (passed all the blank application forms and takeaway menus) i actually found school supplies of relevence, apparently at one point this year i was prepared to do work. mmmm pity that never happened.

Apart from school supplies and menus, your bedside table will more than likely have the following hidden in it by the end of the year.

-holiday stuff like halloween accessories and xmas hats (you arent in cansas anymore toto, no mummys attic here to store all your useless seasonal items.

-cheap jewllery you found in a sale and put away safely, but it wasnt THAT important you find it ever again.

-concert tickets

-gig ticket stubs

-wristbands from memorable nights out to clubs etc (theyre EVERYWHERE)

- that  good as new checking book your bank gave you when you opened that student account for the overdraft (they thought youd actually deposit more than youd withdraw, silly them) 

-shopping lists (you made alot of these when you got hungry and the funds ran low) 

-a receipt from the university for coursework submissions (the second you dont keep them, the uni will magically loose your only copy of your work)

-caffeine tabs, ritalin, (or worse) pills that helped you cope with the workload and late nights.

-some form of useless momento from an awesome night out (there could come a point you have so many, you dont quite remember where theyre all from)

As i continued cleaning, the cupboard was the next logical step, i found all my clothing can be shoved badly into four massive bags, a LARGE black bin bag and a big plastic container. makes you wonder why i bothered hanging anything up, if im just gonna shove it in with all my other crappy clothes. 

Things you will also find around your student room by the end of the year, will be...

-a wall or surface covered in notes, to do lists, business cards, bookmarks, posters, stubs or other paper like momentos from amazing memories and of course that annoying calander you realise you need come deadline time (though most first years dont catch

your aceptance letter that you said youd treasure.... but crumpled up and left amoung all the rest of your notes

a mirror that tells you the honest truth about how bad your skin is (not unlike your mother)

FACT student mirrors lie. a fact we only realise when we go home at christmas and look at our everyday outfits in a different environment 

(design students only) an obscene amount of expensive books and art supplies, that you still cry over when you think how much they cost you, and you only needed them that once. 

candles/soaps/nice smelly things that kept your clothes smelling perdy all year long (if you dont, your clothes will eventually smell like the rest of your student house....drink, smoke and unshowered roomamtes isnt an intoxicating smell. you will only really smell this when you go home)

PS. think the amount of unused candles i have is a problem.... might start googling hooarding.

old hand in stuff

speed drawing challenges

my version of a filing cabinet 

Alot of current or so old its irrelevant uni work that you arent too sure if you are willing to risk throwing it out....what if that lecturer asks for it two years later (unlikely but still... you didnt write that essay, or fill in that crappy artists journal just to throw it away so quick)

original artwork and photographs from obscure semi famous artists that you convinced would be worth something someday, and or would motivate you (if they can make money off THAT so could you, no matter what your parents said)

Those christmas hampers and beauty boxes you decided you HAD to have, and used maybe one thing from them, ever! but hey, it was either under your student bed, or back home with younger siblings that would be sure to help themselves to it. 

An amazing view of someones bathroom, back alleyway or dodgey carparks (students dont need a view, this is the time in your life to better yourself so you can afford a view!)

fyi. a part of that wall is my graffiti, 100 points to griffindor if you can guess which one!!!

(more directed towards UK students, since we have the 5p levy bag charge)

BAGS, more bags than you know what to do with! you likely accumulated them through the many grocery bags your mother insisted you bring (normally tinned/frozen food the rest of the family dont eat, but theyre convinced you will get so hungry that youll want it)

Those times you bring more back to uni than you brought home, and your suitcase maybe doesnt fit it all.

all those trips to the shop that you decided sure ill buy the slightly more expensive bag, im sure ill remember it next time and never need to do this again (note. you buy that bag again, and again, and again, until youre left looking at the above on moving day)

That religious relic your mother/granny/close relative demanded you keep in your room so it will protect you all year. you dont really notice it but youd never throw it out. sacrilege lol (clearly it works, im not dead yet surprisingly)

a trendy coat/bag/purse that you figured would look amazing but soon found it was utterly impractical for more than a doorstopper. 

A piggy bank/ jam jar/ jewelry box. basically a small container you throw all your pennies in when your rich because they are useless.... until you have no money and no food for the foreseeable future, and when that time comes, that empty jar of change, or half full piggy bank, is your bestest friend in the whole world.

ticket stubs (seeing a pattern. im just too lazy when i come in from nights out or long journeys, that i empty my pockets and never sort anything?)

in this case, theyre from my first tram rides (it was a long weekend in dublin, i used the tram alot)

jewelry belongs EVERYWHERE, even on candles and the windowsill idk

an immature toy, normally a teddy or bopit or something similar. it was fun that one day you and your roommates were addicted to it, but then it just sat there out of place all year (questioned y any new people in your room)....in my case it was a hello kitty slinky, please note i live in a houses with over seven flights of stairs. it was put to alot of use in that one day 

a cluttered handle full of i dont even know what. 

theres festival bands, convention bands, loom bands, friendship bracelets, wishing bracelets, id tags for the many conventions and events worked, bracelets and other nick nack memento jewelry, a teddy/keychain ting given to me by a boyfriend YEARS ago that i thinks freakin adorable but have no use for. and a frog shaped rechargeable torch (the most sensible thing i likely own. think about it, if i ever experience a black out, im sorted. adorable, quick, accessible, and no need for batteries. its sad how thats my most sensible possession) 

shoes. alot of shoes.

the sad thing is, when you go home, youve even more shoes there! 

but  believe all girls will agree with me here. they are all needed.

ALL girls have a teddy.

mainly because they stuff it behind the headboard so the bed doesnt make noise (sad how much that fact comes up in drunken conversations through out the year)

BUT my undead monkey is not in that category. hes just old and adorable (and my little sisters have been trying to steal him for years, so hes safer with me at uni)

ALOT of half used makeup, toiletries and perfumes. 

Apparently your studies werent the only thing you half finished. 

Once all your stuff is packed.... you realise how freakin sad it all is. 

Your life can literally be packed up so easily and look so miserable (most people can fill houses worth of their stuff, and we can barely fill a car normally)

So you get to cleaning. that means, clearing out your food cupboard, defrosting the fridge, moping and hoovering all floors. your house looks sooooooo empty and unlived in when you are finished. (ready for the next hopeful naive students to come in and have the craic)

yeah my room number was one, cos its on the first floor and im so lazy that i didnt wanna climb the mount everest to the top floor ever time i needed something.

me and fionas wee private hallway between our rooms (theres three rooms this second hallway attaches too, but the third room mate might as well have been a no show all year tbh)

first floors bathroom and shower. i fell jumping from one set of stairs to the other (pure lazyness) so many times this year

 look how pretty my kitchen was :'( was brand new when we moved in, might not look like much, but this is the buckingham palace of student accomadation.

 we had two sinks, two cookers, two ovens because there was so many of us BUT we didnt get our second fridge and freezer (not that we were complaining) so the landlord gave us a tv as compensation. sweeeeeet.

 my last meal in princes street, enjoying the fact i had he place cleaned (hillbillys, is like an irish version of KFC idk ive only ever seen it in derry, but apparently its a big deal in the south)

how many student houses can say they have a garden. 

(granted the boys decided its better suited as a pee garden all year, but thats neither here nor there) 

Big obvious red door, how ill miss thee

 BYE BYE princes st. you were an awesome house, filled with six awesome room mates !

Stitch is equally not as please to be squeezed into the car with everything else i own lol